4 Days of Christmas

On the 23rd, called Little Christmas Eve, we had rice porridge for supper which is a Norwegian tradition. On the 24th, Christmas Eve, we had our Christmas dinner and gift opening with our own family as we usually do. We had roast leg of lamb with mashed potatoes as a change up since we would have other turkey dinners. We had a very nice time with our family including playing Trivial Pursuit in the evening. Then we had a quiet day on Christmas Day while Mary, Chris and Mike were having the day with "the other side of the family." Elaine and Janice were working on food preparation for going up to Saskatoon on the 26th. In the morning on Boxing Day we travelled up to Saskatoon for turkey dinner and the day with Elaine's family. It was a full day of eating and visiting with a short break for gift opening, and then more eating and visiting. We had a great time as usual and then headed home for the night. It has been a great 4 days of Christmas.

Aunt Helen's 90th Birthday

I telephoned my Aunt Helen today to wish her a happy 90th birthday.  We sent her a card and 2 pictures which she said she received.   Aunt Helen lives in Delaware and was married to my father's youngest brother George who passed away in 2004.   The picture below was taken in 2004 when we visited there.   Behind Aunt Helen are my cousins Carol, George (in middle) and Roy  (with Tara the dog peeking out beside.)

 It was very good to talk to Aunt Helen.  She is still full of life and not expecting to stop at 90 or any time soon.  She said she always keeps a positive outlook on life.    I said,  "Yes we can certainly tell that."  She said,  "God has been very good to me."   And she told me,  "Just enjoy every day of your life."   I was very glad I was able to talk to her on her birthday.   

Remembering

On November 11 we remember those in the military who gave their lives in war and peacekeeping.  And for Elaine and I,  this year on November 11  it is 35 years since we were engaged.   So for us those memories are  part of our Remembrance Day. 

My Mother's 60th birthday was November 10, 1976 (yesterday she would have been 95) and we were going up to North Battleford on November 11 for a birthday supper.   I was working in Regina and Elaine living in Saskatoon and I was going to pick her up to come with me to NB.   My plans were to stop along the way at an overlook by the river and ask her to marry me and give her the ring.     But Elaine told me we had been asked to pick someone up (Rose) to give her a ride from Saskatoon to NB.  That would make my plans awkward, so I asked Elaine to marry me at her apartment (she said yes) and I gave her the ring right away.  When we went to pick up Rose the couple where she had been staying insisted on us coming in for tea and a lunch.  Elaine was trying to keep the hand with the ring under the table.   The woman must have suspected because she said "Elaine put your hand up on the table so we can see it."    Eventually we went on our way to NB and had the birthday supper but we did not say anything yet about being engaged during the meal.    After supper my Mom and Darlene were whispering to each other about seeing the ring and came out and asked us about it.   We weren't making it a secret just trying to surprise them. 

The picture on the right was taken while we were visiting in NB that weekend.  The one on the left was a surprise party our friends had for us when we got back to Saskatoon.  In these pictures from 35 years ago Elaine looks the same as now, other than her glasses.  I sure had a lot of dark thick hair then which is long gone now (but that does have its advantages in convenience though.)    And 35 years later we are still both smiling and laughing together the same way. 

Staying In and Staying Warm

This afternoon it is 6C with wind up to 60km/hr.  I was sitting in my living room wearing my Rider sweater while we watched the Rider game on TV    At least the fans who sat out in the cold and wind had something to cheer about with the team finally getting a win.   If the Riders can finish the season on a winning note maybe there will be a little more optimism for next year.  

I wasn't feeling well earlier in the week so didn't go out much, but doing better by the end of the week.  Yesterday afternoon we went and got our flu shots.   I have gotten a flu shot every year since 1995 after I had pneumonia.  I usually get little or no adverse reaction from the flu shot, and just some mild soreness in my shoulder this time.  (Janice tells me to stop poking it to see if it is still sore.)  This was the first year that Elaine got a flu shot as well and had no adverse reaction at all.  The influenza vaccine this year has the same three components as last year: A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus, an A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)-like virus, and a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus (B Victoria lineage).  There is no live virus in the vaccine but inactivated components that will develop antibodies to these or similar influenza viruses.  The A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus is the same one that caused the H1N1 scare two years ago and there was a separate H1N1 flu shot.   For the last two years it has been part of the regular seasonal flu shot.  

In other news we finally got our new basement windows installed on Thursday morning after waiting several months since the contractors are so busy.  The small furnace/ laundry room window had a single pane with wood frame rotting and has been replaced with a double pane PVC window.   We also got the basement bedroom window replaced with a larger one that meets the regulations for emergency egress.  The existing window met the minimum dimension but was just less than the minimum area.  It needed to be replaced anyway with a better quality window that stopped the wind from blowing through.  For that bedroom window we also got a larger window well  to meet the regulations.  This was done by the bobcat contractor when the soil build up and grading around our house was finally completed.   So slowly the work we need is getting done and maybe soon we can get someone to start working in our basement.    

October afternoon in the park

Yesterday afternoon it looked like it was going to be the warmest day for a while, with a high of 16C, so I dropped off  Elaine for a bike ride and then drove to the park to meet her there.   I dropped off Elaine at Kiwanis Park and she rode her bike to our usual meeting place at Pine Island in Wascana Park.  After she met me there I went onto the island and took some pictures while she rode her bike around the lake.
   

 It was a nice fall day with some sun and cloud but fairly windy at 30 km/hr and gusty.    You can see in the picture above the choppy waves with some rowers practicing.    That side of the island was facing the wind off the lake so I couldn't walk around a lot since the wind is hard on my breathing.   But I walked some and then stopped to take some pictures or sit on a bench for a while. 

 I put 5 of the pictures together in a panorama (using a program that came with our Canon SX130IS camera) of the view across the lake toward the legislature and downtown and the marina at the far right.   I posted previously a panorama of this view at sunset.  

Afterward we went around the lake opposite Willow Island where it was more sheltered from the wind.   While we were there sitting on a bench looking across the lake our friend Dale (Elaine's 2nd cousin) came along walking home from work.  He said,  "What are you doing here?    I answered,  "Just being retired sitting on a park bench."   We felt like we had not gone to the park enough often in the summer and the warmer fall days may soon be gone.  So we take advantage of the nice days when we can, and being retired makes our schedule a little more flexible.       

Rain and Mud

We need some build up and grading of the ground around our house to keep the water away from snow melt in the spring and from rain.    We had someone arranged who was not available until fall but that was OK for us.   However that contractor got tied up with emergency projects from the flooding in the southeast area.    I was calling other contractors but they were so busy I couldn't get people to even call back.   Finally I got a contractor who does bobcat work who said he could do it for us.   However the job he had ahead of ours dragged on a week longer than he expected.   He finally came last Thursday afternoon and got started and filled in at the back of our house with clay and topsoil.   The weather was just perfect and the soil was dry just right for working but he only worked for 3 hours and had to leave for the day. 

That night it rained all night and continued the next day.  In the picture you can see some temporary extensions on the eavestrough downspouts to try to get the runoff past the bare ground that turned to mud.

  The contractor left his small bobcat parked in front of our house beside the remainder of the piles of clay and topsoil that were standing in pools of water as the rain continued. 

Then over the weekend it seemed like it was drying up some.  The contractor came back on Tuesday and tried to do some work but it was still way too muddy to accomplish much.

The rest of this week we have had damp cloudy weather with fog patches and rain showers.   So the little bobcat still sits in front of our house in the mud with the remaining dirt pile.    The good news is that the forecast for next week is for sunshine so maybe it will dry up enough to get this project done, as well as other outdoor work.
  

Counting Our Blessings

We had a good Thanksgiving weekend here.  It is a time when we are reminded of all the things we have to be thankful for.  Back in 2008 on Thanksgiving I posted the song "Count Your Blessings." (Hard to believe I have had a blog that long.)  The words of the chorus are:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The other hymn that really expresses how I feel is Great is Thy Faithfulness,  especially the words in the chorus "all I have needed thy hand hath provided"  and in the last verse "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."   God has provided all that we need and has given us strength for each day and a bright hope for the future.

I am really thankful for Elaine and our family, as well as friends and relatives and our church family.    I like being retired and am thankful that God enabled me to work my full term to have a pension that meets our needs.  And every day we try to remember to count our blessings for we have a lot to be thankful for.

On Sunday after church Janice came straight home and put the turkey in the oven and made the mashed potatoes and gravy.  Mike and Nicole came over and we had our Thanksgiving dinner together about 4 PM.  Elaine made the dressing and vegetables, and Mike and Nicole brought a salad.  We had a very nice meal and visit.  Then on Monday we had a quiet day at home and watched the Rider game on TV in the afternoon.  At least I can be thankful I don't have to figure out how to fix their problems.  There is always something to be thankful for.     

Beautiful Start to Fall

We had a high of 32C yesterday and 30C today which is a great way to start the fall season.  Yesterday after an early supper I drove Elaine up to northwest end of the bike path.  While she rode on the path along the creek I drove down to a park to meet her.  

I walked a short way along the path and enjoyed the view of the creek and islands while waiting for Elaine to arrive on her bike.   I met Elaine at another park along the way and then went down to Wascana Park while she rode there on her bike.

Just after sunset I took some pictures of the view across the lake toward the legislature and downtown.   I put 3 pictures together as an experiment with a program to stitch pictures together in panorama.   It was a beautiful evening with no wind as you can see by the reflection in the lake.     

A New Roof Over Our Heads

We got new shingles on our house and garage yesterday.  The shingles had been replaced about 15 years ago and we were not expecting to need new ones this year.  We normally come to our house from the north and don't often see the south side of the roof.   The shingles on the north side looked fairly good still.   But on the south side were in very bad shape as shown in the picture below including closeup in the inset. 

I expect it is from the heat of the sun on the south side of the roof that the shingles are worse with the surface worn off and corners curled up. This summer Chris was checking and cleaning our eavestroughs.  We thought they were plugged up on the south side with leaves and poplar fluff from a big tree in our neighbour's yard.  Chris found that on the south side the eavestroughs were all plugged up with the granular surface material worn off the shingles.   This is when we realized that the shingles needed to be replaced as soon as possible.  

 The crew came yesterday and took the old shingles off  and replaced with the new shingles over a synthetic underlay called BP Deckgard.   The new shingles we got are BP Harmony laminated shingles with fibreglass/  asphalt layers .  More of these type are being used now rather than the conventional 3 tab asphalt shingles.    The new shingles are silver grey.   The old shingles were originally grey but the surface was very badly worn off on the south side. 

The new shingles are called "Lifetime warranty" whatever that means but we hope it is a very long time.

Trach Examination

I had an appointment at the hospital yesterday for an examination related to my trach  by my ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.  I had a problem with a trach tube and it had to be replaced two weeks ago, and now to order new customized trach tubes for me the respiratory therapy department at the hospital needed a prescription from the ENT specialist.  I was to have an appointment at 4 PM yesterday, and at 6:30 we were still in the waiting room.    The doctor came out and talked to us to explain the delay that some of his equipment had not been sterilized since it had been used and he was waiting for that.  He is a very nice man and the staff at  the hospital keep telling us that as well.    When we were called into a hospital room and the nurse heard which doctor we would be seeing she said "He is a very nice man!".  We said "Yes we know that."    The nurse told us this ENT doctor did her 6 year old daughter's tonsillectomy.  Her daughter was afraid but the doctor was so nice talking to the girl about the surgery,  and now her daughter thinks the doctor is pretty well her new boyfriend.  

Finally the doctor came to do his examination and he had the bronchoscope with him.  He has done examinations in my airways with a bronchoscope several times before.  I posted on my blog back in 2008 that it was like having a microscope up my nose.  This time he did not go up my nose and around the sinuses and back down to the trachea with his scope.  He pulled out my trach tube and put the scope into the trachea through the stoma (the opening in my neck for the trach tube) and pushed the scope's fibre optic tube down my airway.

Bronchoscope inserted in the stoma (opening in neck for trach tube) to examine the trachea 

He had first sprayed anesthetic to freeze the area so I would not cough from the scope.  He was looking for any granulation  which would be scar tissue or sore areas caused by the trach tube. He was very happy that the trachea looked very good.    Then he got Elaine to look in the scope while he moved it to show inside my trachea.  He said "See how good it looks."   Everything has healed up well and the trach tube is not causing any soreness or scar tissue.   This confirms the respiratory department should order trach tubes of the same type and size for me.    Overall I felt very good about the results of the examination. 

When we were leaving the doctor asked if I would be willing to talk to some of his other patients that will likely need a tracheostomy.  I remember how uncertain I was 4 years ago not really understanding what it is or how it would affect me.  I have done this before for another specialist who asked me to talk to some of his patients.   I said I would be glad to do this.  He said he will call me when he has something arranged to have me visit someone who is in hospital now needing a tracheostomy.   I hope my experience can be an encouragement to someone else.  

    

More Birthday Toys

The family gave me 2 rc helicopters for my birthday.   I first got a small 3 channel rc helicopter last year for my birthday.   This year they felt I should move on to a bigger one.   When I first opened the larger helicopter I was fairly apprehensive about  a large outdoor helicopter but it turned out to be a manageable size to fly in the back yard.  It also came with a small indoor 4 channel rc helicopter (for when the weather isn't good for outdoors.)    

Elaine took some videos of me flying the larger helicopter in the back yard.   You pretty well need a time when there is little or no wind.  In the first part a breeze was coming up and the helicopter kept drifting over closer to Elaine.  When I tried turning it around it ended up landing in the rose bush right beside her.  Later the wind was calm and the flying was more successful.
I will also have to get some videos of flying the smaller helicopter around the living room.  My other birthday gifts were a wooden model of the Victoria blue bridge and a DVD of the documentary March of the Penguins.  I guess the family wanted to ensure I was adequately entertained in my retirement.     

Late Summer at the Farm

Last weekend we were up to the farm to visit Elaine's parents and other family for 4 days.  We traveled up a week ago Friday and returned home on Tuesday.  I hadn't posted any pictures before because since we got home I have been busy with escapades with my trach and ventilator. 

Here I am enjoying a relaxing time out on the deck. 

Then Elaine came out to have an afternoon rest on the deck.  We enjoyed visiting with Elaine's parents on the deck but did not get any pictures when they were out there.   In this picture in the background you can see Elaine's father out watching Phillip get the swather ready to go. 

Elaine's parents got us some produce from the garden to take with us when we went home.  In the picture you can see how tall the corn is in the background, and  the swiss chard beside mom is huge.   The meals we had while visiting there were amazing.   Elaine's mom is a great cook and all the food is fresh from the farm.   She made beef stew we had the first night we arrived that the whole meal with meat, potatoes and vegetables and milk were from that farm.  We had blueberries for dessert with cream from the farm.  We had the same on Sunday dinner with roast beef, potatoes and vegetables all from that farm. That was the story of our trip to the farm, eating and visiting, and then it was time for another lunch.    

Birthday Balloons

We just got home yesterday evening after being away 4 days visiting Elaine's parents and other family at the farm.   We had a great time there and a good trip home.   Yesterday was my birthday but we were mostly just traveling and had already celebrated my birthday early.   While traveling I started having problems with my trach tube.  It has an inflatable cuff (the light blue balloon that is down inside my trachea) that I deflate during the day and inflate at night to connect to the ventilator.   As shown in the pictures below there is a tube with filler valve (dark blue) that sticks out that I use to inflate and deflate the balloon cuff using a syringe. 

While traveling I would take air out of the cuff with a syringe and a few minutes later the air would leak back in restricting my breathing.  At night when I inflated the cuff to connect to the ventilator it would not stay inflated, the equivalent of a flat tire in my trachea.  I was not able to use the ventilator to assist my breathing for the night and got very little sleep.  So first thing in the morning I phoned the respiratory therapist (RT) to arrange a  trach tube change.  Usually I have trach changes at ambulatory care (out patient rooms)  at the hospital every 6 weeks.  Rather than arrange this at the hospital on short notice, the RT phoned back and said he will be right over to my house to do the trach change.   He was at my house in 20 minutes with new trach tubes and all his supplies and had the procedure done in short order.  Now that is real health care service.

   

Heading Home

Maryanne and Chris are heading home this morning.   They stopped at our house this morning  for about an hour before heading out on the road.  I has been great to have them here almost all summer and we will miss them now.  

My Daily Bread

Due to some problems with acid reflux I have been trying to be careful about what I eat to avoid problems.  However I was a little too careful and lost some weight which I cannot afford to do.  I have been discouraged trying to eat enough to try to gain some weight.  Janice showed me the Live Strong website that she has been using for over a month to track what she eats each day.   This website has a section called MyPlate  that you can enter the foods you eat each day and it will total the daily calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, fibre, etc.  There is a huge database of every kind of food including different brand names of prepared and packaged foods that you can select from in entering what you ate each day.   You can select target daily calories based on if you want to lose weight, maintain weight, or gain weight.

I have now been using the Live Strong MyPlate website for a week to track what I eat and see if I am meeting the calorie requirements to gain weight.  Initially the website just has an estimate based on height and weight with 500 calories per day added to gain approximately 1 pound per week.  This is just an estimate because different people have varying metabolism and  activity levels.  But the calorie target can be adjusted with experience.   An example for one day is shown below.  Basically you select the item you ate or the closest to it in their database and the portion size.  Once you get used to the database it does not take much time each day to do the entries. 

So far I am up about 2 pounds but the real test is to see if I can sustain it.  In the past if I was up 2 pounds the next week I would be back down again.  My hope is that using the Live Strong website to track what I eat each day I can be more consistent in eating the required daily calories.  In addition I am learning more about how I am doing in terms of target amounts of daily protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, etc.  So it is not just the amount I eat but a healthy balance of foods that meet the overall needs of my body.   

   

The Family 10 Years Later

On Wednesday we had family pictures taken at Kiwanis Park.  There are a lot of places and backgrounds for outdoor pictures there on rocks, in the trees, on a bridge, etc.  We had 90 pictures taken so we have a lot to go through and pick out the best ones  and do some cropping and/or lighting adjustments.   We had family pictures taken in that park 10 years ago in October 2001.  I was looking back to compare the pictures we had taken then.

August 2011

October 2001

Summer Days

We have been glad to be able to visit quite a bit with Maryanne and Chris this summer.  They are staying at Chris's parents' house but are over at our house quite a few days.  A week ago on Sunday evening we had Mike and Nicole here as well and the family gave me my early birthday gifts (but I will tell more about those another time.)   Maryanne and Chris are here one more week before they head home.  One thing Elaine wanted to do while they are still here is go on a bike ride with Chris and it work out to go on Saturday evening.  I went along to drive them to the start of the bike trail and then met them at different places along the path, which is what I usually do when Elaine goes for a bike ride.   

I took them up to the start of the bike trail in NW Regina.   

Here they are on the trail near Dewdney Ave. just east of the RCMP depot.

One place I went to meet them was at Kiwanis Park on Regina Ave. 

 Here they are near Kiwanis Park heading for Wascana Park

The end of the bike ride was at Pine Island.  It was after sunset by then so we packed up to head home.   

Big Storm in the Night

I woke up at 12:20AM with a big thunderstorm and a lot of wind blowing. I checked the weather on my Ipod (always on the shelves beside the bed) and saw that there was a severe storm warning  and wind was gusting up to 115 km/hr.   The wind was sounding like a train going through and the lightning was pretty wild and thunder very loud for a while.  I was hoping it was not developing into a tornado after our experience traveling by Kansas city in May.  I was checking to see if there were any warnings for tornadoes and wondered if we would have to go down the basement when the storm was sounding quite wild.  The power went off for about 7 minutes  and by the time it came back on the storm was starting to subside.  By about 12:45 it was moving past our area.   This morning we saw that the BBQ cover was blown off and one chair tipped over but nothing  major.  There are a lot of twigs blown around but no bigger branches broken on trees like we heard about in some areas.  We were thankful the storm blew through in a short time with no big problem.

UPDATE:  We have been hearing and seeing more about the damage from the storm.  Tree branches down caused power outages in many places.  Elaine took some pictures of a tree that is down and across the street just a few houses down the block from us.

New Front Entrance

The concrete on our driveway was breaking up and was way past needing replacement. As seen in the pictures below the sidewalk to the front door was also broken up and sinking.

This spring we arranged for a contractor to take out the existing concrete and make a new concrete driveway and front sidewalk. This was done at the beginning of June while we were away on our trip to the US.  We also got the concrete front step removed so for several weeks we used the back door until the new front steps and deck could be completed.  
 

As shown in the picture the concrete front step has been replaced with a new front deck and stairs with composite decking material and white aluminum railing.   We have been using it for a while but part of the railing was on back order.  Then with us being away at camp and then the contractor being on holidays last week, we finally got the railing complete this week. We also found a white aluminum mailbox to replace the old black one.  We are pretty excited about how the new front entrance turned out.  And of course we are very happy to finally have our new driveway.  
 

Heading Home

This morning Darlene and Lisa left for home.  They were in Canada over 2 weeks and at our house since Friday.  They had a shorter time at our house this summer but we had a good visit when we went to the US on our trip. Darlene had a list of questions for me and things to do and I think we accomplished most of them. (She always has to do lists for me whenever I see her.)  Last night Chris and Maryanne were here for supper as well and we had a good time visiting in the evening. 

In the picture they are beside their "new" Chev Astro van.   Their previous van was also a red Chev Astro but this one has lower miles and a working air conditioner.  I think this is their fourth Chev Astro van.  For an older model van it looks like new inside and out.   Darlene has to do all the driving on their trip but maybe when they get home Lisa can get her learner's license so she can do some of the driving next time.   I hope they have a good trip home.

It's Heating Up

Our temperature is 31C this afternoon and the forecast is for  35C on Monday and 36C on Tuesday.  I guess this averages out for the -35C or -36C in the winter.  For Regina the annual average temperature is +2.8C which doesn't sound too bad except the range is -50C to +43C.   Fortunately the extremes don't happen too often with 15.7 days/yr  >30C and 13.9 days/yr  <-30C.

I worked with a man for many years who was originally from India and went to university in England.  While in England in the 1960s some Saskatchewan advertising convinced him to come here to look for work.  The average temperature looked quite reasonable to him.  But when he arrived in January the temperature was nowhere near average.  He couldn't afford a ticket to go back to England and the only job he got was surveying the boundaries of the Meadow Lake park (in January.)  I later worked with him for many years and he often used this as an illustration of the risks of relying on average data.

We have had Darlene and Lisa here since Friday and they are staying until Wednesday morning.  Since the camp in North Battleford which was over last week Darlene has been catching up on her visiting in NB and Saskatoon.  (Steve already went home with his parents.)  Lisa said that it doesn't seem very hot here to her.  I guess it is all relative to what you are used to.  But if we hit 36C as forecast there will be not question that will be hot.

UPDATE:  We did not quite hit the forecast temperatures with 33C on Monday and 32C on Tuesday. 

Meetings and Mosquitoes

We got home Sunday night after being at North Battleford all week for our summer church camp.   We very much enjoyed the meetings as well  as visiting at the meals and through the day.  The weather was quite good for visiting outdoors particularly earlier in the week.  But the mosquitoes were the worst I remember and seemed to get worse as the week went on.   We stayed at a motel during camp as we have for several years  and couldn't even get away from the pesky critters indoors.   There were so many swarming around no matter how fast you went in and closed the door, many would come in with you.  We would try to kill enough of them in our room to leave us alone while we slept.  Back in Regina they say the mosquitoes are way above average but around our area there are not many compared to the swarms in NB.  

Who Is That Young Couple?

July 3, 1987  

Happy Anniversary!

Lakes, Trees and Cicadas

We really enjoyed visiting Darlene, Steve and Lisa and seeing where they live.   They are in a very beautiful area in a subdivision built around four lakes that they just refer to as Lake 1, 2, 3, 4.  Since we got home I had not posted yet some pictures of the area.

Looking across one end of Lake 1 the largest lake at sunset

I spliced together 2 of the pictures of Lake 1 at sunset to try to make a panorama

Darlene and Tessie at Lake 4 in the evening. 

Elaine, Darlene and Lisa swimming at Lake 4 on a hot afternoon

Sitting out at the end of a long narrow peninsula that goes out into Lake 1

When we were visiting there it was the year of the cicada and they were out in full force and full volume.   In some heavily treed places the high pitched whirring sound of the cicadas was deafening.  I saw some information that the sound of some cicadas can be up to 120 db and cause hearing damage if you are up close.   Most of the southeast US is covered by the 13 year cicadas this year.  I looked up some information and the varieties of  periodical cicadas have a 13 year life cycle in the southeast US and 17 years in the northeast US.  After hatching the nymphs stay underground until the year they appear all at once.     

This short 10 second video clip has the sound of the cicadas while out on the front porch at Steve and Darlene's.  It is a continuous high pitched whirring sound but not that loud in the video since the trees are a ways away.

Other than getting educated about cicadas, it was great visit and a very beautiful area.

Graduation BBQ

Today after church we had a BBQ at the park for four graduates.  Janice and Jeff graduated from university and Max and Carl graduated from high school.   It is quite a while since we went out to the park for a BBQ like that and we had a great time.  It was sunny most of the time but started to cloud over later with a cool wind.   We got cleaned up and ready to leave just before the rain showers started. 

More Rain and Flooding and Wind

After the spring flooding this year we have continued to get more rain.  Thursday night and Friday central and southern Saskatchewan got 50 to 75 mm ( 2" to 3") more rain and more flooding.  Many areas in southeast Saskatchewan that were disaster areas already are now in a state of emergency.

 

We took this picture of flooding in the fields near Midale on May 23 when we were heading south on our trip to the US.  Water was flooding the fields all the way south to the US.   So the rain this weekend further worsened the flooding problems in the area since the spring. 
 
We did not see much farming happening in either southeast Saskatchewan or in the midwest US.  All we saw turning in the fields were wind turbines.  There were wind turbines in all the midwest states for mile after mile in the fields.  Wind is certainly an abundant resource in southern Saskatchewan and the midwest US.  But we need some drying winds with sunshine to get the farmers back on the land. 

When we were traveling in the midwest US the water was flooding the low areas and up to the edges of the roads in many places.    We follow the Missouri River  all the way down on our trip from North Dakota to Missouri and we crossed it several times.  It was very high with adjacent valley areas flooded. 

One evening Elaine and Lisa rode about 6 miles on a bike path (see inset in the picture below) along the Missouri River starting at Washington Missouri.   Darlene and I sat on a bench looking at the river and visited and I took some pictures.  The river was very high and flowing very fast.  

 

The bike path was partly flooded as seen ahead of them in the picture above.  The river is quite wide and the trees on the other side are farther away than it appears in the picture due to dim lighting near sunset.   You can get an idea of the width of the river by the bridge in the distance in the upper picture. 
  
Meanwhile back at home this evening it is still raining ...

Our Scientist

Yesterday Elaine and I were at Janice's convocation for her B.Sc degree.   We were very proud to see her get her degree knowing how much work went into it.  She also added extra classes in science education to be able to be accredited in secondary physics education.  After the convocation we met Mike and Nicole at the Fainting Goat restaurant for supper.  It uses meat and produce mostly from local farms and I think everyone enjoyed their meal there.

US Trip Fuel Costs

We were keeping track of the fuel we bought on our trip and today I added it up and calculated the average fuel economy.

• We traveled a total of 5427 km (3373 miles) on our trip including a lot of touring around in the St. Louis area.  The distance over which we averaged the fuel use was 5238 km (3256 miles.)   
• We spent a total of $500 on gas for 133.6 US gallons ( 505.7 litres) at an average price of $3.75/US gal.
• The average US gas price of $3.75/US gal =  $0.99/litre which is less than our price in Regina of $1.36 (down to $1.27 when we got home.)
• Our average fuel economy was 9.65 litres/100km = 24.4 miles/US gal = 29.3 miles/ Can gal

I was quite pleased with the fuel economy of our van on the trip considering it was heavily loaded with equipment ( the oxygen tank is 124 lbs) and luggage and driving at the faster speeds on the US interstate highways as well as the hills and curves in Missouri and stop and go driving in the St. Louis area.

Home Again

We arrived home this afternoon after being away for 2 weeks.  We had a great time but it is always good to be home after a long trip.  We spent 9 days visiting Darlene, Steve and Lisa  (and Tessie) and then this past weekend we visited John and Mae and others in the Minneapolis area.   We put a total of about 5400 km on our van and all the traveling went well after the one day of stormy weather on the way down.  We had a lot of  hot humid weather while there which we enjoyed after the cool weather at home.  Darlene had a 2 page list of things to do (or things for me to fix)  while we were there and I think almost everything was crossed off the list.  We took a lot of pictures and will try to post some and tell  about the trip and visits. 

 

Happy Birthday Darlene

We had a good day today celebrating Darlene's birthday.  We took Darlene and Steve and Lisa to an Olive Garden restaurant for her birthday.  We first did some touring around and sightseeing with Steve driving our van.  We saw some of the places they have lived and a lot of surrounding country side.  It is really beautiful country.  On previous trips here we were just in the city so mainly saw concrete and pavement.  This time we were on a lot of winding roads through the tree covered hills and valleys.  After some touring we went to the restaurant and had a very enjoyable meal and visit.  Since we were there mid afternoon it was not busy at all and we had a great time. 

Scooting Around Shaw's Garden

 

Today Darlene, Lisa, Elaine and I  visited the Missouri Botanical Garden aka Shaw's Garden.  It was originally the gardens of Henry Shaw founded on the estate of his home in 1859.  Darlene and I rented scooters since it is a 79 acre garden with a lot of paths.  Elaine and Lisa walked faster than the slow scooters.  In the picture you can see Darlene leading the way on her scooter. 

 

There was climate controlled dome with tropical  trees and flowering  plants.

Elaine and I are at one of the rose gardens in this picture. 

 

The gardens are beautiful and we had good weather.  It was a very enjoyable day.